Thursday, September 15, 2011

I
know you wrote you leave your hummingbird feeder up until you haven’t
seen a hummer for two weeks. I’m leaving my feeders up later than I
usually would and I’m pleased that I’m getting these occasional fat
hummingbirds like you said. I bought the saucer style feeder that you
recommended as the best, but I don’t fill it all the way now. Can they
still reach food or should I fill it to the top every time?

At
the end of September in mid-Michigan, you’re not going to see the
regular hummers that you enjoyed all summer. So it’s alright to fill
your saucer feeder only half full. Hummingbirds actually have a long
flexible tongue that is good for reaching into long flowers or the
bottom of your feeder. The tongue itself isn't just muscle but includes a
series of small bones folded accordion-like. When a Ruby-throated
Hummingbird flexes its tongue muscles, these bones unfold and allow the
hummer to extend its tongue almost an inch past the tip of the nearly
inch-long bill. And believe it or not, a hummingbird's tongue can lap at
the rate of 13 times per second.